Beliefs Have Consequences

Beliefs are not true by virtue of belief nor false by denial!  You can be sincerely wrong!  They are ideas about reality.  Actually, we live in a world of consequences and reaping what we sow, which is not at all unlike the karma that New Age people profess. Most people meet their comeuppance!  Job says those who sow trouble reap the same!   The love we sow in others will come back to us with eternal dividends!   In fact, all ideas have consequences and when an idea's time has come, no one can resist it! Times change and so must we adjust. We must not live in the past nor long for the olden days. When we dwell on the past or misinterpret the present, or even anticipate the future unduly we can become depressed and go into a funk, which is not good for our mental health and wellness. Common sense will tell you that to get somewhere you must first know where you want to go; if you just go nowhere, in particular, you'll end up somewhere but not necessarily a good place to be. 

We must be willing to follow directions and have faith in the one giving us sound advice and directions for life itself. Jesus was full of directions as being the Author of life itself and who knew how to navigate through it; He told us to just follow Him, the summation of Christian ethics (living the good life by fulfilling one's duty to man and God)! Some would say that their philosophy is to do as Jesus would do (WWJD), but this can lead to mysticism and we must do what Jesus commanded us to do, namely, to love one another and to obey His commandments including the Great Commission. He told us directly that the Law is summed up in the command to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love God with all that we are (heart, mind, soul, and strength).

How can we practically fulfill the command to love one another? We don't harshly judge, jump on someone's case throw the book at them, criticize, but acting in one's best interest, we set priorities, don't get nitpicky, we become good examples, we spend time with people when they seem to be a nuisance or bother on our personal time, we become servants of our fellow man and willing to pay back to society a debt of gratitude and show that God has put us on earth for a purpose. We will notice that when we have the Spirit that love overflows and we can find a love for others in our hearts, but we love only because God first loved us! Love is the overflow and byproduct of the fulfillment of the Spirit as fruit to be grown by maturity.   We must learn to invest in people as well as invest in God and realize that we will reap benefits in eternity if not in the here and now. We may not even feel a love for others, but don't go by your feelings because they can vary as a weathervane in a storm. Love is not to be reckoned only as a touchy-feely thing but an attitude and a commitment. 

Nothing is determined by frail feelings in God's kingdom--not right nor wrong, and not love either!  The true measure is obedience and faithfulness. Mothe now Saint Teresa said that we are called to faithfulness, not success!  Some people determine right and wrong by what feels right at the moment!  No one will be rewarded in heaven for their wonderful feeling they managed to conjure up, but only for their faithfulness. But God wants our hearts, not our achievements! That is to say that He wants all of us and full devotion. 

It was said of King Amaziah that he served the LORD, but not with a perfect heart (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2). We are to love the LORD our God with all our hearts as a command but the heart does more than feel in the Bible: it thinks and wills. It has volition and intellect as well as being the seat of emotions. The reason says this is so we can have a heart to love God, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him. Luke 10:27 says to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves--this sums up the whole Law of Moses. 

The Bible is our instruction manual, user guide, or even owners manual if you will. Breaking faith with the instructions breaks faith with God, for He is a stickler for instructions and orders to be complied with by the letter. Jesus told us to abide in Him and to keep His Word. We are to grow in faith by hearing of the Word in preaching at church. To God, there's your way and His way, and we must forget about our best instincts and take it by faith that the Father knows best. We can do no better abiding in Jesus than by cherishing His Word and reading the Bible regularly and faithfully till it becomes a part of our souls. The worst insult one can get is for someone to say that he has not the love of the Father in him, for God is love and he who loves knows God. Soli Deo Gloria!

Rendering To Caesar And To God Their Due

 It was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German playwright, who quipped:  "To rule is easy, to govern difficult."  Also, don't forget Plutarch, Italian poet, who said wisely, "Who shall govern the governor?"  It was Rev. Samuel Rutherford who said that the law is the king, not the king who is the law, writing Lex Rex, or the law is the king translated, setting up the rule of law in Western Europe and restraining the so-called divine right of kings like King John who had to submit to the nobles at Runnymede and sign the Magna Charta.  The Bible has always been considered the basis of  Common Law in the UK.  Note that in democracies we have the right to express ourselves, protest, and do whatever opposition requires in the spirit of the Reformation: I dissent, I disagree, I protest!  That refers to civil disobedience delineated by Henry David  Thoreau but articulated in the Bible as well in Acts 5:29 when the apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."  

Yes, we have the right to oppose the government when it is immoral and goes against the Bible's orders or guidelines.  Even St. Augustine of Hippo said that an unjust law is no law at all.  And Isaiah said, "Woe is the one who decrees unrighteous decrees" (cf. Isa. 10:1).  This all goes to show that Christians ought not to stand on the sidelines but show their Christian colors and dare to be Daniels who stood alone in his defiance of the king's decree. 

Now, Christians have dual citizenship and must be loyal, patriotic, and good upright citizens where possible but there comes a time to take a stand and be ready to be counted besides going to the polls. We respect our leaders and obey them but that doesn't mean we have to like them--we are still obliged to pray for their enlightenment and to be good leaders as well as safety.  But it can go too far when we focus on hero worship and idolize our leaders even like seeing them with charisma such as Hitler mesmerizing his crowds of adoring fanatic followers. This type of devotion or loyalty to a man and not the truth and God is akin to idolatry and no man owes any other man what is due to God alone!  We depend upon God and seek His guidance, not the government's.  This is especially bad when a leader demands personal loyalty and agreement. 

We are here not just to earn a buck and make a living but to make a difference (especially eternally for God and His kingdom). That's why we say in America:  In God we trust!  Jesus did say to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's and that means his taxes, prayer support, obedience, and proper respect so as not to bad mouth or spread disinformation or even misinformation--no conspiracy theories or fabrications; all amounting to good citizenship.    We owe God all that we are: our time, talents, energy, relationships, opportunities, money, etc.  But note that the government is obliged to be sure that employers don't exploit workers but give them their due wages.  Soli Deo Gloria!